Biography

Kim Soo-hyeon is a photojournalist based in Seoul, South Korea. She is part of a generation shaped by national tragedies such as the Sewol Ferry Disaster and the Itaewon crowd crush. Witnessing young lives lost to systemic failure, she began questioning injustice and seeking answers, turning her attention to the people and stories often overlooked.

Her interest in graphic design naturally led her to photography, and a chance encounter with campus journalism became a turning point. As a student journalist, she covered not only university issues but also COVID-19, climate change, and national elections, sharpening her perspective on power and society.

In 2023, she joined Reuters as a stringer and has since covered a wide range of subjects from K-culture and sports to breaking news and South Korea’s deepening political divides. Her notable coverage includes the Jeju Air crash at Muan Airport, the country’s declaration of martial law, and the 2025 presidential election. She was part of the Reuters Seoul bureau team awarded Breaking News of the Year in 2024 for their martial law coverage.

Her visual storytelling is grounded in empathy, exploring resistance, generational divides, and the human cost of conflict with depth and clarity. In 2024, she completed Reuters' Hostile Environment Training, and in 2025, she was selected for the prestigious Eddie Adams Workshop in recognition of her storytelling.

Her photography and videography have been widely published via Reuters in major global media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera English, NPR, NBC, CBS, ABC News, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and Die Zeit.

She aims to create long-term projects that help people reflect on conflict and imagine paths toward empathy and inclusion.